


Swallowed By Your Pride

by thesaddestboner



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Character Study, Detroit Tigers, Gen, Plotless, Pointless, mention of family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-18
Updated: 2008-03-18
Packaged: 2017-11-26 21:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesaddestboner/pseuds/thesaddestboner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Brandon was used to being doubted, to being shuffled aside for the next great thing, the flavor of the week.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swallowed By Your Pride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amantegufi711](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amantegufi711/gifts).



> Written for a meme request. [**owllover711**](http://owllover711.livejournal.com/) requested: _something Inge-flavored about his current predicament. Feel free to make it become slashy, or not, as the spirit moves you._ Sorry this sucks. I wanted it to be longer, and be an actual story, but you know how it goes.
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/thesaddestboner) and [tumblr](http://saddestboner.tumblr.com).

Brandon had seen this kind of thing before, the roster turnover. He’d been around long enough in Detroit to be one of the only original members of that god awful 2003 team left.

Brandon saw it 2004, when Dombrowski brought Pudge in to take Brandon’s job behind the plate. He’d said then that catching was _his_ , but he hadn’t had the foresight to know how hard he would fall in love with the hot corner.

Third base was _his_. Brandon would never forget the first time he took the field during a game that meant something and felt the crunch of dirt under his cleats. How it felt so right, like he’d been born for this. How catching never felt as natural to him as playing the hot corner did.

It was something Brandon knew he was born to do, predestined by some higher force, and he couldn’t imagine ever leaving. Brandon had worked so hard his entire career, shedding label after label to get where he was. In a previous lifetime, when he was a fireballing closer for Virginia Commonwealth, he wasn’t going to make it because he didn’t have the offspeed stuff and his fastball was hard, but hittable. When he was drafted by the Tigers – as a catcher – it was because he was too small. His arm and footwork were second to none, but he’d never be able to block the plate well enough to stick.

Brandon was used to being doubted, to being shuffled aside for the next great thing, the flavor of the week. It didn’t mean he liked it, though. Didn’t mean he’d put up with it while wearing a smile on his face either. Brandon had never been one to keep his mouth shut when he had something to say, and he’d never been one to mince his words. His father had always taught him to be honest and speak his mind. Maybe he spoke too openly too often.

Over the years, Brandon had gained a somewhat deserving reputation as a yakker and a media-whore because he liked to talk _so much_ , but he didn’t really mind. He just saw it as being dependable, honest, open, never turning down an opportunity to speak what was on his mind.

He couldn’t understand it though. When he kept quiet, hiding out with Shani and the boys back home in North Carolina, he was pouting, insulting the media and fans who salivated for the soundbytes he’d previously given so freely. When he finally ended his silence, he was a team cancer, a selfish whiner who could only think of himself, a guy who had no concept of what a “team” was.

Brandon knew he was never going to win. He was always going to piss someone off, somehow, because he just couldn’t let go of his pride and admit that maybe Cabrera _was_ a better player, and that maybe he _did_ have an off season the year before.

But the one thing no one understood was this: without pride, what did you really have?

**Author's Note:**

> The author of this piece intends no insult, slander, or copyright infringement, and is not profiting from this work. This story is a complete work of fiction and does not necessarily reflect on the nature of the individuals featured. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you found this story while Googling your name or the names of your friends, hit the back button now.


End file.
